Roots/Routes, the debut EP from the newly formed Boston four-piece The Weeds, is unfortunately an unfulfilling listen.
Their garage-punk style is disappointingly stale, and the band sound like they’ve gone straight from rehearsals in someone’s basement to a couple of rented hours in a studio .
Rather than sounding raw and fresh, like the best of garage music, The Weeds offer nothing to distinguish themselves from the thousands of other wannabe-punksters.
As a newly formed band, The Weeds certainly deserve some leeway and time to develop, but it takes a special effort to make punk music sound as tired as it does here.
It’s difficult to pinpoint exactly where they go wrong – guitars jangle and grind as they should, John Hadley’s drumming is energetic and punchy, and the lyrics cover all the usual angsty punk themes.
Unfortunately, it all falls flat. The EP is devoid of the fluctuations between highs and lows that could have keep it interesting, and the tracks simply drone into one another.
Likewise, while some strong songwriting might have helped overcome the monotonous instrumentation, Roots/Routes is instead burdened with such cringe-tastic lines as “If you like her more than you like me, that’s really scary ‘cos you know me so well”.
When singer Justine Defeo wails “it’s still nothing new” on “Feel Nothing”, it’s impossible to escape the sense that she’s summed up her own album perfectly.
Hopefully with more time together, The Weeds can mature and refine their sound, but sadly that’s the best that can be said of their efforts so far.
